Cultivation of fungi on sugar cane biomass

The possibility of cultivation of fungi on sugar cane waste (leaves and stalk tops) was tested. Having been crushed, macerated and heated, this material becomes a suitable substrate for cultivation of oyster mushrooms. Selected hybrids of Pleurotus ostreatus × P. ostreatus form Florida rapidly colonized the substrate and, in the first phase, yielded more than 10% of fresh fruiting bodies per initial mass of the wet substrate, which is considered, to be the efficiency limit of this technology. The growth cycle in Cuba is shorter than in Europe. Under the tested temperature and light conditions in Cuba, all strains formed white fruiting bodies, as compared to a multicolored variety developed in Czechoslovakia. Some of the newly obtained hybrids were found to have better properties than the original production strains. Hybrids of Cuban origin should be prepared. Besides common, well-known pests, several species of ants damage the cultures of oyster mushrooms.